Sun
A former Chinese Communist Party official who was once tipped for a top leadership post was sentenced to life in prison for bribery on Tuesday, the latest senior cadre to fall in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption crusade.
Sun Zhengcai, a former Politburo member and party chief of the southwestern mega-city of Chongqing, was found guilty of taking over 170 million yuan ($26.7 million) in bribes, the First Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin said in a statement on its website.
Sun, 54, had once been tipped for promotion to the Politburo’s elite seven-member standing committee, which rules the country and is presided over by Xi.
As the youngest Politburo member, Sun was even seen in some quarters as a potential successor to Xi.
The court said the defendant had been given a “lenient” sentence in light of his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.